The Use of Polls to Analyze Public Opinion in Politics Essay -- Explor

The Use of Polls to Analyze Public Opinion in Politics Public opinion is defined in the text as â€Å"the distribution of the population’s beliefs about politics and policy issues† (Edwards, Wattenberg, and Lineberry 150). On paper, it sounds so simple; in reality it is much more difficult to determine. The most common method for ascertaining and consolidating public opinion has been through the widespread use of polls. Their popularity has steadily increased over the years. One reason is that they provide an accurate, reliable representation of the opinions of an entire population and supply decision-makers with valuable insight that may be used to determine a future course of action. However, not all polls are created equal. Polls are conducted by various organizations, businesses, corporations and public officials in an effort to determine the public’s stand on issues ranging from the terribly controversial to the completely trivial. Regardless of subject matter, there are basic principles of polling that g reatly affect their quality and reliability. â€Å"Commandment #1† on everyone’s list states the necessity of a randomly selected sample of a population. This ensures that all those whose opinion the poll attempts to represent shall have an exactly equal chance of being interviewed. Telephone interviews conducted on a sample size of 1,000 – 2,000 people called from a list of random, computer-generated phone numbers are all typical components of a good poll. Some of these components can be altered without critically affecting the overall quality of the poll. For example, good polls can be conducted on a sampling as small as 700 – 1,000 people; the decrease in size causes an increase in error margin, but not by much. ... ...n, Princeton, â€Å"How Polls are Conducted†, http://www.gallup.com/poll/faq.asp, pp. 1 – 7. (The Gallup article is a secondary source cited from: Frank Newport, Lydia Saad, and David Moore, Where America Stands, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997). Benjamin Ginsberg, â€Å"Polling and the Transformation of Public Opinion†. Allan Cigler and Burdett Loomis, American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings, 4th ed. Boston: Houghton Miflin Company, 1999, pp. 124 – 137. Charles Kenney, â€Å"They’ve Got Your Number†. Allan Cigler and Burdett Loomis, American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings, 4th ed. Boston: Houghton Miflin Company, 1999, pp. 114 – 123. Larry Sabato and Glenn Simpson, â€Å"When Push Comes to Poll†. Allan Cigler and Burdett Loomis, American Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings, 4th ed. Boston: Houghton Miflin Company, 1999, pp. 139 – 145.